Gas engine



No. 607,580. Patented July l9, I898.

L. .l. WING.

GAS ENGINE.

(Application filed Dec) 22, 1896.) (No Model.) I 5 Sheets-Shoat I rur.nQRRIs PETERS c0 mom-urns" WASHINGTON. u. c.

Patented July l9, I898.

L. l. WING.

GAS ENGINE.

(Application filed Dec..22, 1896.)

5 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

m: uonms PEYERS 00., morauma. WASHINGTON, u, c.

No. 607,580.- Y Patented July l9; l898.- L. 1. WM.

GAS ENGINE.

(Application filed Dec. 22, 1896.) (No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 3.

N VENTOH A TTOBNEYS,

m: Ncmms vnzns co. wom-u'ma, \A'ASHINOTON, a c,

no; 607,580. Patent ed July 19, I898.

L. 1. wma.

, GAS ENGINE.

(Application fild Dec. 22, 196.) H v (No Model.) 5' shaeii snm 4.

No, 607,580. l atented July l9, I898. L. 1. wma;

GAS ENGINE.

(Application filed Dec. 22, 1896.) (Ne Model.)

5 Sheets-Sheet 5.

m: NORRIS PETERS comucrwumou WASHINGTON, n. c.

LEVI J. WVING, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

GAS-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 607,580, dated July 19,1898.

Application filed December 22, 1896. $erial No. 616,599- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

. Be it known that I, LEVI J. WING, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city, county, and State of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Gas-Engines, of which thefollowing is a specification. I

This invention relates to certain improvements in gas-engines of thatclass in which an impulse is given at every second rotation of thecrank-shaft, said gas-engine being adapted for stationary and marinepurposes when used as an upright engine and for motor-wagons when usedin a horizontal position and arranged in such a manner that two enginesare connected end to end.

The invention consists of a gas engine which comprises a jacketedcylinder closed at both ends, a reciprocating piston, a piston-rodprovided with a cross-head at its outer end,connecting-rods betweensaidcrosshead and the crank-shaft, an inlet-valve for the explosivegas-and-air mixture, an outletvalve for the products of combustion, avalvegear for operating said inlet and exhaust valves from thecrank-shaft, and an electric igniter located in the combustion-chamberandoperated by one of the connecting-rods of the piston cross-head.

The invention consists, further, of certain details of construction,such as the combined air-and-water cooling of the cylinder, the niter,vaporizer and air-heater, &c.', which will be fully describedhereinafter and finall pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a front elevation ofmy improved gas-engine. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3is a vertical transverse section on line 3 3, Fig. 1. Fig. dis ahorizontal section on line 4 4, Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a detail outside sideelevation, drawn on a larger scale, of the electric igniter; and Figs. 6and 7 are respectively a side elevation and a plan view of twogas-engines coupled together and arranged in horizontal position for useon motor-wagons.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

Referring to the drawings, A represents the supporting base-frame of myimproved gas-engine, which is provided at its open opposite ends withpillow-blocks a for the cranka cylinder 0, which is closed at both ends,the closed upper end being provided with a stuffing-box d forthepiston-rod 'D of the piston D. To the outer end of the piston-rod ,Dis attached a cross-head D .to the opposite ends of which. are strappedthe connecting-rods D which are fitted at their lower ends to the cranks13 of the crank-shaft B. The connecting-rods D are arranged at oppositesides of the cylinder and are rotated in the open space arranged in theends in the supporting base-frame A, adjacent to the pillow-blocks a a.

The cylinder 0 is jacketed at its lower por tion, the upper third of thecylinder being not jacketed and provided with air inlet and outletopenings d 02 The openings d d are preferably arranged at diametricallyopposite points of the upper non-jacketed portion of the cylinder 0, theopening 01 being provided with a check-valve cZ through which the air isdrawn to the interior of the closed cylinder 0 at every downstroke ofthe piston D. The opposite opening 01 is connected by said pipe beingprovided with a spray-nozzle d for admitting a small quantity of water,

which is taken up by the air that is forced through the connecting-piped at each upstroke of the piston, so that a body of air mixed with aspray of water is forced into the jacket for cooling the walls of thecylinder 0 at each upstroke of the piston D. This arrangement is ofspecial advantage Whenever a full supply of cooling-water that is forcedthrough the jacket by direct pressure or by a pump is unavailable, as itpermits the cooling of the cylinder for a considerable length of timewith a comparatively small quantity of water.

The cooling arrangement described is of special advantage when theengine is used for motor-wagons in which only a limited amount of watercan be carried for cooling purposes. The jacketed portion of thecylinder is provided at its upper part with an the electric igniter G.

outlet-opening d, to which a pipe is connected, by which the air and thesmall quantity of water used for cooling at each upstroke of the pistonis conducted off. As the body of cooling-air is supplied at eachupstroke of the piston and as the explosion takes place at every secondrotation of the crankshaft, two bodies of air and water are forcedthrough the jacketed portion of the cylinder, one at each rotation ofthe crank-shaft, so that thereby the cylinder can be kept cool for aconsiderable length of time with a comparatively small quantity ofwater. In stationary and marine engines a larger body of water may besupplied to the air forced to the jacketed portion of the cylinder orthe latter cooled entirely by means of water in the usual manner. 7

The piston D is provided with suitable packing and is reciprocated inthe cylinder, the reciprocating motion of the piston corresponding tothe stroke of the cranks B The com bustion-chamber G is located in thelower part of the cylinder 0, adjacent to the supporting-frame A, and isprovided at diametrically opposite sides at right angles to thecrank-shafts with an inlet-valve E and an exhaust-valve F.Intermediately between said inlet and outlet valves E and F is arrangedThe valve-gear of the inlet and exhaust valves E and F is actuated by agear-wheel transmission 8' e e from the crank-shaft B, the gear-wheel 6being applied to the crank-shaft, the gear-wheel e to a shortintermediate shaft on the supportingframe A,and the gear-wheel c to anauxiliary shaft e, which is supported in bearings of inclinedbracket-arms 6 that are bolted to the side and rear parts of thesupporting-frame A. The auxiliary shaft 6 is provided with two cams c e,.of which the cam 6 acts on an antifriction-roller at the lower end ofa valvelever a which is fulcrumed to one of the bracket-arms 6 while theupper end presses on the outer end of the stem of the exhaustvalve E,which latter is opened against the tension of a helical spring a, thatis interposed between the casing E of the exhaustvalve E and a collar 6011 the valve-stem, as shown in Fig. 3. The cam e on the auxiliary shaft0 acts at each rotation of the shaft 6 on the end of a rod o that isguided in openings of the base-frame A and held in contact with theactuating-cam c by a helical spring e attached to the end of the rodfand the base-frame A, asshown in Fig. 3. The opposite end of-thereciprocating guiderode is pivoted to the lower end of a lever f,that isfulcrumed to a bracket-arm f at the front of the base-frame A, and theupper end of which presses on the outerend of the stem of theinlet-valve F. Between the casing F of the inlet-valve F and a collar fon its valve-stem is interposed a helical spring f against the tensionof which the inlet-valve is opened and which serves to return theinlet-valve F into closed position. The valvecasings E F of the exhaustand inlet valves E and F are provided with threaded shanks that arescrewed into threaded openings located at diametrically opposite pointsof the combustion-chamber O, as shown in Fig. 3.

The products of combustion are exhausted through a pipe E on the casingE of the ex haust-valve E, around which exhaust-pipe is arranged acylindrical shell H, which is closed at both ends and provided at thatend adjacent to the exhaust-valve with a number of air-openin gs h,through which the air is drawn. into the shell, so as to be heated bythe heat of the products of combustion which are forced through theexhaust-pipe E The opposite end of the air-heating shell H is connectedby a downwardly-extending pipe h with a horizontal pipe 71 that leads toa vaporizer V, which is supported on the baseframe A of the engine. Thehorizontal pipe 71, is provided at its point of connection with theupwardly-inclined pipe 71 with a stopcock h through which a certainquantity of air of ordinary temperature can be drawn in when it shouldbe required for producing the mixing of the air in proportions with thegas or vapors supplied to the combustion-chamber of the cylinder. Thevaporizer V is connected by a pipe 71 with a suitable reservoircontaining the hydrocarbon oil and with a petcock z" for draining offthe surplus oil from time to time from the reservoir. The oilsupply pipe1' of the vaporizer V is provided with a needle-valve h, which isactuated by an elbow-shaped arm 7L5, that is attached to thereciprocating guide-rod o so that at every second rotation of thecrank-shaft the valve is operated and a certain quantity of oil injectedinto the vaporizer, evaporated by the hot air drawn into the vaporizer,mixed with the airin the required proportions, and supplied bya pipe 7L6to the inlet-valve F, and thence to the combustion-chamber of thecylinder 0. Any approved construction of vaporizer may be used, as I donot desire to confine myself to any special construction of the same.

The igniter G is formed of a casing g, having an exterior flange g, thatabuts against a corresponding seat 9 at the lower part of the cylinder0. The casing g is inserted into a corresponding opening of thecombustionchamber 0 and attached to the seat 9 by fastening-bolts. It isprovided with a straight interior face and with two parallel bore-holes,one for a spindle 9 that is insulated from the casing g by a sleeve 9,01 insulating material, the other for a shaft 9 which carries at itsouter end a gear-wheel g. The gear-wheel g meshes with a pinion 9 whichis pivoted to the casing g and provided with a crankarm g having a pin gat its outer end that engages a slot 9 in one of the connectingrods Dadjacent thereto, as shown in Figs.

The oscillating motion of the con- 4- and 5.

necting-rod D imparts a rotary motion to the crank-arm g and by means ofthe pinion g and gear-wheel g rotary motion to the shaft 9 At the innerend of the shaft g is arranged a wing g, which engages at every secondrotation of the crank-shaft a projection on the pin g for the reasonthat the gearwheel g has twice the number of teeth as the pinion Theouter end of the pin g is connected with a spring 9 that is attached toa binding-post on a bracket g, attached to the base-frame A, (shown inFigs. 4c and 5,) said spring g giving sufliciently for permitting thewing g to pass the wing 9 at every rotation of the shaft g and returningthe wing g into its normal position as soon as the wing 9 has passedbeyond the same. The spring 9 is held in contact with a contact-springgby the binding-post 9 and in electric circuit with a battery theopposite pole of which is connected with a bindingpost on the base-frameA, as shown in Fig. 4.

At every rotation of the gear-wheel g and its shaft 9 the wing g formscontact with the wing Q12 on the insulated pin 9 and moves past saidwing against the tension of the spring g, which slides sufficiently forthis purpose in the slitted outer end of the pin. As soon as the contact.between the wing g and the projection Q12 is interrupted a spark isproduced by which the explosive gas and-air mixture compressed in thecombustion-chamber by the downward stroke of the piston is ignited. Thisignition of the charge takes place at every second downstroke of thepiston, the engine being operated in the wellknown manner of gas-enginesof this class, in which the explosive gas-and-air mixture is drawn in bythe upstroke of the piston, compressed by the downstroke of the same,and then ignited, the force of the explosion moving the piston in upwarddirection, while the downward stroke of the piston forces the prodnetsof combustion through the exhaust-valve to the outside. The regularrotation of the crank-shaft is kept up by the momentum imparted to thefly-wheel, while the proper motion of the inlet and exhaust valves is sotimed that the difierent operations take place at the proper time. Thelocation of the combustionchamber next to the crank-shaft and theconnection of the piston-rod by a cross-head and connecting-rods withsaid crank-shaft moves the piston away from the shaft and produces thedrawing up of the cranks instead of pushing them up, as heretofore, sothat a small and compact engine with longconnecting-rods and small angleof oscillation is obtained.

\Vhen the engine is intended to be used for motor-wagons, it ispreferable to combine two engines and support them in a horizontalposition below the wagon-body, so that their cylinders are in line witheach other, while the base-frames are coupled together so as to form theconnection between the cylinders. This arrangementis shown in Figs. 6and 7 ,in which the connecting-rods of both cylinders are applied to thesame crank-shaft from which rotary motion is transmitted to thedriving-axle of the motor-wagon by any suitable transmitting mechanism.This arrangement requires a slight change in the disposition of theinlet and exhaust valves and requires that the explosion in one cylinderalternates with the explosion-in the other cylinder, which permits thelarge fly-wheel to be dispensed With and valve-gearof the inlet andexhaust valves can be simplified and a very effective motor for vehiclessupplied that takes up a comparatively small space only and can be runwith a small quantity of cooling-water.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent 1. In a gas-engine, the combination, with a singlecylinder closed at both ends and having a jacketed portion, of a pistonin the cylinder, a valved air-inlet opening in the unjacketed portionof'the cylinder, an air-outlet opening in the unjacketed portion, a pipeconnectin g said air-outlet opening with the jacketed portion of thecylinder, a Water-supply nozzle in said connecting-pipe, and anoutletpipe for said jacketed portion, substantially as set forth.

2. In a gas-engine, the combination with a single cylinder closed atboth ends and having a jacketed portion, of a piston in the cylinder,apiston-rod provided with a cross-head at its outer end, connecting-rodsbetween said cross-head and the crank-shaft, an inlet-valve for theexplosive air-and-gas mixture, an outlet-valve for the products ofcombustion, a valve-gear for operating said inlet and exhaust valve fromthe crank-shaft, and an electric igniter located in thecombustionchaniber and operated by one of the connecting-rods of thepiston cross-head, substantially as set forth.

3. In a gas-engine, the combination, of a cylinder having acombustion-chamber at one end, an igniter in said combustion-chamber, aninsulated pin passing through the casing of the igniter and beingconnected at its outer end with a source of electricity and provided atits inside with a wing or projection, a rotary shaft in said casin gprovided with a wing at the inner end that forms intermittent contactwith the projection on said pin, a crank arm pivoted to theigniter-casing and connected by a pin with a slot in one of theconnecting-rods of the engine, a pinion on the pivot of said crank-arm,a gear-wheel on the I my invention I have signed my name in presrotaryshaft meshing with said pin, said gearence of two subscribing Witnesses.

Wheel havin twice the number of teeth as the pin so as to produce onerotation of the LEVI WVING' 5 wing for every two rotations of the crank-Witnesses:

arms, substantially as set forth. PAUL GOEPEL,

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as GEO. W. J AEKEL.

